First published on the New English Review Photo credit of CPR news Never (Can) Forget: Year 23  Time: Traveling  If you want to talk about it, it’s because you want to repeat it. Is it because I’ve talked about it that it’s repeated? Another lap around the track at the center of hell. By ‘it,’ I mean Columbine, and by ‘it’s, I mean mass shootings. I didn’t know I was running. That’s partly what’s made it hell. And by this ‘it,’ I mean the last two decades of my life. I just

First published on the Voicemail Poems Photo credit: adobe stock photos There is a dog somewhere In my building That cries all day for love In our shared shelter Crying all day for love I searched the staircases And the old boxes people leave By the dumpster when it’s too full By the too-full dumpster And I brought myself To peer into the pool And then I saw the dog What a dog, what a dog Weaving back and forth On the skin of the water Crying for love like water When it blath

First published on Quillette The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens (including leaders and lawmakers) and...

First published by Discretionary Love I was the only imperfect child. My five older siblings and I were all born in a kiddie pool my...

First published by Scuba Diving Magazine I learned to dive with my dad back in 1998. I was 12, and my dad had dreamed of getting...

First published by Mad in America In the 23 years since the Columbine High School massacre, the school shooting in an affluent, formerly...

Published by Heartwood INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE if I should die. Use resistance as formaldehyde. Refuse to accept the fact of...

First published by Literally Stories The man who pit this roof against rain, his best friend and owner of the final store in town, the...

First featured in the Doubleback Review Clay When we played all those blue games near the highway, Mom didn’t stop us at first, though...

First Published in EQ Iris Dating Even if you didn't watch the Oscars (as I did not), Will Smith smacked Chris Rock and then swore at him...

First featured in the Gyroscope Review Love In The Injustice Age (published in the Fall Issue of Shantih Journal [Oct. 6, 2018]) is when...

First published by EQ Iris Dating You're likely familiar with the line in the '90s show Friends where Rachel is furious with Ross for...

First published by EQ Iris Dating I'm not sure how common it is for others, but I've experienced receiving the "encouragement" your...

First Published on HealthyRich A week before I turned 30, I went to a new counselor. I’d been to therapy before — when I was in high...

First Published in Moist Poetry Journal With the Wash on Our Hip We are bigger when we’re born, but the past is not a prologue. When we...

First Published in Moist Poetry Journal Healing is So Small The ocean is a seed on a low, coughing land and what does that mean what does...

First Published in EQ Iris Dating As a latecomer to dating, I wish someone had explicitly told me that people have different goals for...

First published by Punt Volat “Librarians and archivists—not to mention our beloved curators and art historians—help us grasp the...

First Published in Roi Fientantor Gaffes Will Be The Glory To err is human, to something is divine. I could Google it. But I have a...

First published by EQ Iris Dating If you've spent time in the dating world, you've likely heard the advice to "just be happy being...